Chests! Cheeky Tees! The Menswear at Cannes Is Evolving

Reported by Vogue.

Cannes has always been a festival of women — the couture, the jewels, the gravity-defying hemlines. The men? Historically just well-dressed scenery. Black tuxedo, white shirt, repeat. But according to Vogue, the 79th edition of the festival is quietly rewriting that script, and the men's carpet moments are finally worth talking about.

The daytime photo calls set the tone early. Miles Teller showed up to his Paper Tiger appearance in a Zegna knit polo-and-trousers set in a deeply unexpected pea soup green — a color that had no business working and absolutely did. Diego Calva opted for an Isabel Marant charcoal shirt tucked into pleated trousers for the Club Kid call: relaxed, precise, and quietly cool. And then there was Jordan Firstman, who arrived in a slogan tee reading "I boofed at Cannes and all I got was this lousy shirt" — because sometimes the joke is the look. Model Alton Mason contributed chest, specifically a deeply unbuttoned shirt and a torso that earned its own press pass.

After Dark, the Stakes Got Higher

Eveningwear delivered its own highlights. Colman Domingo — reliably fashion's most willing risk-taker on any red carpet — came to the Garance premiere in a custom purple Valentino look: a sequined top with a built-in back cape, punctuated by a Boucheron brooch set in diamonds, onyx, white gold, and black lacquer. It was full spectacle, executed with precision. Harris Dickinson, meanwhile, sidestepped the default navy-or-black tuxedo at the Kering Women in Motion Awards in favor of a brown double-breasted Balenciaga two-piece — a small deviation that read as genuinely fresh against a sea of sameness.

What's changed isn't that the dress code has collapsed — Cannes still has one, and it's enforced. What's shifted is the appetite for personality within the framework. Classic tailoring is still the foundation, but the men arriving on this particular Croisette seem less interested in disappearing into it. The silhouettes are sharper, the color choices more considered, the styling decisions more intentional. Cannes isn't the Met Gala and it never will be — but it's becoming a place where men's dressing can hold its own conversation.

It turns out all it takes is one sequined cape, a well-placed brooch, and the audacity to wear green — the men of Cannes 2026 finally showed up to play.

Read the original at Vogue.